Gold Rush, Historic Towns, and the State Capital

Saturday, June 27, 2015
We decided to get started early this morning as the predicted high was 101.  We figured we'd best do our outdoor stuff before the heat really hit although it was already pushing 80 when we set off.  Our goal for the morning was to visit gold country, the area where gold was first discovered in 1848 causing thousands to rush to drop everything and hopefully get rich.  And while some did, the person who first discovered it - James Marshall who partnered with John Sutter to build a mill in Coloma, ended up a pauper.  The town of Coloma grew from the few building the mill to a population of 10,000.  Today it has a population of about 550.

The trip itself took us much longer than we expected as it turned out Coloma is in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas which meant the twenty or so miles were on twisty turny roads that had us about meeting our rear ends as we went round and round up and down steep grades on a narrow two lane road.  We were grateful we were doing it in a car rather than our motorhomes.  But finally we arrived. We were at the Sutter Mill we had all read about in our history books as we were growing up.

It sat along side the American River. It would have been in a spot like this with water diverted from the river by a small dam that  would rush along its footings and turn the wheel that caused the saw to work.

And this is a replica of Sutter's Mill now set a little further up the hill so you can see how it is constructed.

The mill was being built to saw the ponderosa pine growing in the area to supply the wood needed to create buildings in Fort Sutter - which was originally named Helvetia and later became Sacramento. Sutter owned all the land and was creating a town to support all of the agricultural land he owned in the area.  Water wasn't flowing correctly in the watercourse which would turn the wheel to make the saws work so one morning when Marshall was inspecting the area trying to figure out the problem he found flakes that looked like gold.   After several tests it was determined that indeed it was.  It wasn't long before the word was out and miners started pouring in

We spent the morning checking out all the different displays including a miners cabin

Various pieces of equipment used over the years of gold mining in the area each with its own sign explaining its use

A piece of hydraulic equipment

There were a couple of the old Chinese stores maintained by the Chinese who provided a lot of the labor needed to mine the gold. Inside one were displays and further information about the types of mining that took place and in the other a sample of how the store and bank would have looked

A peek through all this wire with the camera revealed this

There was a building with several of the old wagons used at that time and a few of the buildings from the town that arose during that period like this post office

The Visitor Center had many more displays and offered several different films.  We watched a couple of them.  One of the films was about the stage coach and what travel to Sacramento 40 miles away would have been like with 9 passengers inside, nine children on top, the driver and a team of horses that had to be changed at three points along the way to make the difficult journey.

Our final stop in that area was to see the statue of James Marshall set on a hill overlooking the valley and the American River.

It looks over the valley below

From there we drove to Folsom to see the terminus of the Pony Express since we had seen its beginning point on our Lewis and Clark trip when we were in St. Joseph, Missouri.  But before we did that we enjoyed lunch at a local Panera.  Then we drove to Historical Folsom.  The old buildings have been retained and converted to a variety of stores, restaurants, and museums.

 The Pony Express building is now a historical museum and sits next door to the Wells Fargo Assay Office.

What would have been the stable doors now make a nice entry door

The museum primarily focused on the history of Folsom and the surrounding area with displays for the Pony Express including one of these Mochilla - a specially designed leather saddlebag for mail which covered the entire saddle but doesn't attach to it so it could be moved quickly.  A small padlock was placed on the packet and the key was held only by station keepers in St. Joseph and Sacramento. Mail picked up along the way went in the packet with no lock.

The famous Folsom Prison (because of Johnny Cash's song) is nearby.  There were displays about its history and this "fun" spot for picture taking.  Thee interesting part was the restroom for the museum is inside the "cell" and when you open the door, you hear Johnny Cash singing the Folsom Prison Blues.  Here is Ken "locked up".

Historical changes were brought about because of the discovery of gold such as the need for ready made clothing (Levi Strauss came up with pants that would take the wear needed for the work as well as the lack of families and thus a woman to make the family clothing) and the huge population growth in California bringing everything from miners to bankers to shop keepers and women for bordellos.

They also had a special display of old quilts and clothing owned and shared by members of the community.

This is a close up of a small section to see the detail

And this is the write up about it

Outfits included this one

The picture doesn't begin to show the great detail and all of the individual little beads sewn onto the dress so I took this closeup of the shoulder area.

This old patchwork quilt with all its embroidery and special stitching was another gem.  It remains in the family after over almost 200 years.

 This shows some of the detail.

We had fun just wondering a couple of the streets just taking in the outside architecture of the old buildings now converted to shops and stopped in confectioner shop (with a 50 plus year history on that spot) to enjoy some ice cream

Then we set off for Sacramento to see the State Capital Building 

There had been a huge gathering there earlier in the day because the Supreme Court had just affirmed gay marriage for the United States so the front doors were locked but we were able to get into a  side entrance for a self guided tour.  The dome was the usual - ornate and eye catching.

Some of the old offices from the early 1900s were on display with signage about them as to who used it.  They are furnished as they last were used such as the Governor's office

We climbed these stairs to the floor where the main entry door was 

with halls in each direction to the legislative offices and meeting rooms

One level up, the Senate chamber was open so we could go into the balcony and look down at it

The side entrance hall ways were filled with display cases like these for each of the counties in California displaying what they feel is the important spot they play in California's history and in today's life.

Outside there are gardens and statuary like this

Unfortunately our parking meter time was about up so we could not stay to enjoy the rest of the gardens.

We then drove down to the Historical Sacramento on the American River but could only find a 15 minute parking space which gave us just enough time to see the wooden sidewalks, stone streets, and old buildings converted to shops and restaurants.  There are several museums in the area as well but it was late and they were all closed for the day.  

Judging by the thousands of people in the area and lack of parking spaces it would appear this is a very popular place to spend time.  Maybe another time....

We were tired and hot after a day of touring so we then set off for our home in Loomis and a bit of rest before heading out in the morning.